Michigan committee hears proposed rewrite of adult foster‑care licensing rules

LANSING — The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules on Oct. 25 heard testimony from Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) officials proposing a consolidated adult foster‑care licensing rule set, described as a rewrite of six existing rule packages into one streamlined regulation covering adult foster care (AFC) facilities.

Paige Fultz, director of the Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs at LARA, introduced the proposal and turned the presentation over to Jay Kallawertz, division director for adult foster‑care licensing in LARA’s Bureau of Community and Health Systems (BCHS). Kallawertz said the new rule set would replace six existing AFC rule sets and reduce the number of rules “from 206 to 73” and cut the rule pages from about 120 to roughly 37, a consolidation intended to simplify compliance across family homes, group homes and other AFC provider types.

The proposal would update licensing standards used to oversee roughly 3,900 licensed AFC homes in Michigan, expand and clarify certain record‑keeping and resident‑protection standards, and make a number of substantive changes to current requirements. Kallawertz said the licensing consultants who oversee AFCs number about 55 and handle roughly 2,400 complaint investigations a year; he described AFCs as serving adults with mental illness, developmental disabilities or physical disabilities and noted a wide range of acuity across residents.

Among the more significant changes described by LARA staff: - Elimination of routine tuberculosis (TB) testing for direct care staff, consistent with Centers for Disease Control guidance the department cited as applying to health‑care‑setting monitoring; - A uniform record‑retention standard of two years for licensing…